Williams Wall gets another favorable ruling

We wanted to pass along a story from our Star Tribune colleague Rochelle Olson, who has covered the StarCaps case involving Kevin and Pat Williams.

Olson reports that the Williamses likely will play the entire 2010 season based on a court ruling. Here is Olson's story:

By Rochelle Olson

Minnesota Vikings Kevin and Pat Williams are likely to play most if not all of the 2010 NFL season because of a ruling from the state Court of Appeals in their lawsuit over their four-game suspensions for taking a banned diuretic.

In a ruling obtained Wednesday, the court denied a request from the National Football League for an expedited hearing of their appeals in the case, meaning it could be months before oral arguments are heard in the case and up to three months after that before a ruling is issued.

No briefing schedule has even been set in the case, but it generally takes weeks if not months for all parties to file their motions on appeals. Only when the file is complete will the court schedule oral arguments. After arguments occur, the court must issue a decision within 90 days - the only hard deadline for the court of appeals.

The National Football League pushed to resolve the matter of the four-game suspensions of the defensive linemen before the season started. The players opposed that request despite an earlier indication they would support a speedy hearing.

No immediate comment came from either side.

Matt Vensel is in his first year at the Star Tribune after covering the Ravens for the Baltimore Sun for six years. He is a Pittsburgh native and a Penn State grad. Follow him at @mattvensel.

Mark Craig has covered the NFL for 23 years, and the Vikings since 2003 for the Star Tribune. He is one of 44 Pro Football Hall of Fame selectors. Follow him at @markcraignfl.

Master Tesfatsion is the Star Tribune’s digital Vikings writer. He is a 2013 graduate of Arizona State and worked for mlb.com before arriving in Minneapolis. Follow him at @masterstrib.